Being a qualified visionary with disruptive ideas isn't the sole prerequisite for running a successful company longterm. So, while you may think nobody is worthy of questioning the Almighty Musk, you've gotta realize there are likely many business savvy customers (some who also built billion dollar companies) who do have valid opinions.
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Tesla Priorities: Refine Autopilot or Fix Everything Else?
- Thread starter brooklynrab
- Start date
Being a qualified visionary with disruptive ideas isn't the sole prerequisite for running a successful company longterm. So, while you may think nobody is worthy of questioning the Almighty Musk, you've gotta realize there are likely many business savvy customers (some who also built billion dollar companies) who do have valid opinions.
Not my problem. Tesla promised me 7 years of updates and I expect to receive those updates, regardless of the cost to Tesla.
This thread cracks me up. Is anyone in this thread that is proposing management changes at Tesla a qualified visionary who has shown up all their competition with a truly disruptive product?
Anyone able to state the last year a successful car company was started? With a completely different method of propulsion?
I drove my year old Mercedes with its Comand system to my test drive. The difference was unbelievable. Mercedes is so far behind its laughable. If Tesla's worst is that much better than Mercedes, I can't wait to see their best!
PS: Nothing wrong with wanting them to do better. It's just the idea that we know better than some of the finest minds on the planet... There are open positions at Tesla.
Nope, I have not accomplished even a tiny fraction of what Elon has accomplished and I have absolutely zero qualifications to do his job. One does not need to possess Elon Musk's qualifications in order to identify the obvious ways in which Tesla is screwing up, and clearly I'm not the only one who feels this way. Maybe we shouldn't ever criticize GM because none of us possesses the qualifications of Mary Barra. Maybe we should never second guess Apple because none of us can compare to Tim Cook. Better not complain about anything Google does unless your last name is Brin?
Give me a break.
Musk has the visionary thing down, but he seems utterly incapable of getting Tesla to a place of operational excellence. This is why Tesla needs someone with better management skills to handle day-to-day operations at Tesla. Tesla's current trajectory, if unchanged, will not bode well for Model 3 among consumers who: 1) don't give a damn if it has an EV drive train, 2) don't give a crap about Tesla's challenges or that it's trying to change the world, 3) are going to compare the Model 3's systems to vehicles in the same price class such as BMW, Honda, Lexus, Mercedes, Toyota, GM, etc., and 4) will expect things to "just work" and will have zero interest in becoming a beta tester for Tesla.
Based on his track record, Musk appears ill equipped to handle the type of consumer he will be targeting next year.
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Soolim
Member
BertL
Active Member
When Elon prioritizes it.
Per previous posts, my view is it's something that is basic, has existed in other vehicles for 10+ years, and so is just expected by most consumers to be there in a luxury vehicle like MS today, especially now that it's been in the market for 3+ years and unlike the competition, could be delivered OTA. ...but, adding that capability does nothing to put Tesla's name in the Press, isn't big enough for Elon to Tweet about, nor really improves some competitive checklist reviewers produce or even the "Average Joe" consumer would think of inspecting to that level of detail when evaluating a vehicle's features. I'm a detailed guy, and missed waypoints, ability to actually turn music OFF so it does not come back on, etc., etc., before ordering. It's only when an owner takes delivery and finds functions like this missing -- or functions that are acknowledged as broken -- that IMHO the rub begins. Then it's too late from the consumer perspective -- money has been paid, and the consumer just has to hope and pray Elon will provide a gift to Tesla owners one day with the additional functionality they expected should be there from day 1. Frustrating.
green1
Active Member
davidc18
Active Member
Soolim
Member
Suggest that Musk start practising the skills by fixing the existing deficiencies we have in S.:wink: Lots to do....
BertL
Active Member
Thx. FYI: I've spent several hours today going through Lexus, MBZ and BMW manuals... Attempting to create at least the start of a consolidated non-emotional set of (fairly common) "basic capabilities" that are missing from MS Infotainment. I want to sync that with the recent voting effort that includes a lot of wish-list items (I need to purge those from this effort), then see if I can add at least some of the "Acknowledged broken software stuff" as well. All that combined, I think is what you call the "to-do" list. If I can get my head around all that in some form that is ready for all of our very detailed and critical POVs here on TMC, then find an army surplus store to buy a flac jacket or bullet-proof vest, I'll start another thread with my consolidation work and provide back-and-forth pointers between threads. No promises yet, but I've got a few pages of notes here, need a break from reading owners manuals, and have several more hours ahead over the next few days to see what I've got.
Maybe they should be paying you to be an engineer.
If it takes petitions and voting for Tesla to fix stuff the end result is either not going to happen or just suck. Maybe we should just petition Tesla on hiring some user experience engineers.
Soolim
Member
Very commendable efforts. Please share with us your "to-do" list at the right time.
I vote for BertL to be TMC user experience spokesperson and senior beta tester for infotainment.
BertL
Active Member
BertL
Active Member
That's funny. Actually, it's just my nature I suppose. I was a Systems Engineer supporting IT customers for a number of years after being a software guy out of college, then in the last half of my career ended up being a sort of trouble shooter that went in to understand and fix several troubled projects or parts of the business. After 2-3 years of head-spinning each time and too many frequent flyer miles, I kept moving on to the next challenge as folks in my (old) team stepped up. Best part for me was when I got a grip on the challenges, a team I could count on to run the show while I focused on vision and executive gobble-de-gook -- but see the turn around and growth, then knowing I could take a week or two off without any crisis or my needing to even call in for messages. THAT was my personal test if I was accomplishing the objective supporting our customers today, and what our shareholders expected for tomorrow.
...too much info I know, but the parallels got me going. Thx for that!
BertL
Active Member
OK folks. For those that are interested, Tesla's Software To-Do List is ready for your perusal and input. I won't even try to guess how many hours it took to produce that first cut, but I'm tired of looking at it for now. Hopefully it's of some value in the end.
cpa
Active Member
Mr. Musk needs to work for about five years in retail, dealing with the general public. He needs to understand the mindset of the typical consumer of retail goods and services. He needs to come to grips that thing go wrong, sometimes very wrong, through no one's fault. He needs to be able to balance the axiom "the customer is always right," with the overall health of the business.
I worked in a retail liquor store from ages 16-24. It was an upscale store, so we generally had a pretty decent customer base. I learned early on to treat all customers like kings, whether they were dropping a bundle on several cases of expensive wine or distilled spirits, or just came in for a couple of beers and a pack of smokes. You never knew if that $1.50 sale would lead to a larger sale tomorrow--either directly from that customer or from his friend. In short, my lesson learned 45 years ago was all about service.
While it's easy to blame the software deficiencies on a lack of resources - the problem appears much more serious than that.
Since Tesla has so many apps/features marked as "beta" - such as the new summon feature, the trip planner released last year, and even the android app that was released 3 years ago - Tesla management seems to be willing to accept these "beta" versions as the "final" release, coupled with the other less functional apps (media playback, navigation, user interface customization, calendar, ...), it's pretty clear Tesla management has not established any clear goals on having their software as a market leader. Tesla has great hardware - software looks nice but many owners prefer using their more functional smartphones or handheld-GPS devices.
For those of us who've managed large software projects, I'm pretty confident that what Tesla has been doing with their software would not be accepted at other companies. I can't even imagine presenting plans that would leave out obvious features, run with software labelled as beta (for years?), and still release software with obvious UI flaws and bugs!
3 years ago, it was understandable that Tesla's software had limitations - the Model S was brand new - and they needed to invest resources to get the software more reliable and implement key features (like sleep mode). But after 3 years, that excuse really doesn't work any more - and if they want to have a lower priced Model 3, attracting a larger customer base - and will now be competing with an established competitor in the Bolt.
Rather than Musk making more statements about potential features that may never be delivered (App Store, 3rd party SDK, improved browser, ...) - he might have more impact by putting a stake in the ground and giving their software team the challenge of developing higher quality and more competitive software - and that Tesla is taking the steps now to bring up the quality and functionality - across the board - so that Tesla owners get the best driving experience - which is both hardware and software.
Since Tesla has so many apps/features marked as "beta" - such as the new summon feature, the trip planner released last year, and even the android app that was released 3 years ago - Tesla management seems to be willing to accept these "beta" versions as the "final" release, coupled with the other less functional apps (media playback, navigation, user interface customization, calendar, ...), it's pretty clear Tesla management has not established any clear goals on having their software as a market leader. Tesla has great hardware - software looks nice but many owners prefer using their more functional smartphones or handheld-GPS devices.
For those of us who've managed large software projects, I'm pretty confident that what Tesla has been doing with their software would not be accepted at other companies. I can't even imagine presenting plans that would leave out obvious features, run with software labelled as beta (for years?), and still release software with obvious UI flaws and bugs!
3 years ago, it was understandable that Tesla's software had limitations - the Model S was brand new - and they needed to invest resources to get the software more reliable and implement key features (like sleep mode). But after 3 years, that excuse really doesn't work any more - and if they want to have a lower priced Model 3, attracting a larger customer base - and will now be competing with an established competitor in the Bolt.
Rather than Musk making more statements about potential features that may never be delivered (App Store, 3rd party SDK, improved browser, ...) - he might have more impact by putting a stake in the ground and giving their software team the challenge of developing higher quality and more competitive software - and that Tesla is taking the steps now to bring up the quality and functionality - across the board - so that Tesla owners get the best driving experience - which is both hardware and software.
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